president obama did run on restoring the rule of law to the fight against terrorist and al qaeda. but when the huffington post sam stiep asked him about torture prosecution, he expressed little interest in prosecution alleged war crimes. >> if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, then people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen. but generally speaking, i'm more interested in looking forward than i am in looking backwards. >> joining us now to look backwards, mark staner, author of "torture and truth," america abu ghraib and the war on terror. thanks for being here. >> thank you. thanks for inviting me. >> mash, let's start right there. the president said he didn't want to look backward. a lot of people said that was a reverse crone languageal frame because all prosecution of crime is backward looking. it is the history that you have to deal with. tell us your reaction to both that statement and how it relates to this new controversy over the film. >> well, it's true we haven't reckoned with torture. in fact, we're living in this strange time in which president o